فاطمه اکبری گلوردی

Disease perception is an organized cognitive representation that thalassemia patients have of their illness and its effects. Research has shown that mindfulness-based stress reduction programs are effective on self-management and reducing patient anxiety, but the application of this treatment on disease perception in the target population is a research gap.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR) on disease perception in thalassemia patients.

The research method is quasi-experimental with pre-test-post-test design with control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all patients with thalassemia in Behshahr who were members of the Thalassemia Association in 1400 (approximately 90 people). Fourty thalassemia patients selected by purposive sampling as a research sample and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (20 patients in each group). First, both groups answered the Bradbent et al.'s (2006) Perception of Disease Questionnaire (pre-test). The experimental group then underwent mindfulness-based stress reduction program of Kabat Zinn (2009) for 8 sessions and the control group did not receive any intervention. Data analysis was performed using multivariate analysis of covariance.

The results showed that in the post-test stage, the score of disease perception components in the outcomes, duration, nature, concern, emotional responses and cause of the disease, the subjects in the experimental group compared to the control group decreased significantly (P<0.05). In the components Personal control, treatment control and disease cognition increased according to the mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR) (P<0.05).

Mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR) for thalassemia patients reduces their anxiety, and leads to their greater efforts to control their disease status.

Reduced quality of life is one of the daunting challenges posed to thalassemia patients. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR) on quality of life and its components in thalassemia patients.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted based on a pre-test-post-test control group design. The statistical population of the study consisted of patients with thalassemia in Behshahr who were members of the Thalassemia Association (approximately 90 people). A total of 40 thalassemia patients were selected by purposive sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (n=20 in each group). Firstly, both groups answered Montazeri et al.'s Quality of Life Questionnaire (2006) (pre-test). Thereafter, the experimental group underwent the MBSR program by Kabat Zayn (2009) for eight sessions, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 22) using inferential statistics of multivariate analysis of covariance.

As a result of the MBSR program, in the post-test stage, the score of quality of life components showed a significant increase in the experimental group, as compared to that in the control group (P<0.05).

As evidenced by the results of this study, the MBSR program was effective in the quality of life and its components in thalassemia patients. Therefore, this treatment can be used to increase the quality of life in thalassemia patients.